My family and I were travelling in our car in East Kilbride on Sunday and we were turning left at one of the numerous roundabouts in EK, when a Police BMW came screaming along the wrong side of the road, just missing us by inches. I mouthed a few choice words at the officer at the wheel, but he didnt look round. The Police vehicle was closely followed by an ambulance and another police car. 

Now Im a great supporter of the Police and the Emergency Services, but the manner in which this bloody idiot was driving was wrong. WHy the hell should my family and me be put in danger, just to get someone to the hospital? Putting a family of four at risk for 1 or 2 going to hospital is just not on. I felt like turning round and following this fool to Hairmyres and giving him a piece of mind. But im sure what would happen was I would be arrested for some crime or other. im fuming at this stupidity.

With the other cop car following the ambulance, I assume it was some bloody criminal or junkie or some other low-life in the back of the ambulance and to put my two innocent boys, my wife and I in danger just to get some dreg to the hospital makes me even more angry.

What is your problem Strathclyde Police? Dont put the public at large in danger just so you can do your job. Maybe the twat in the ambulance should have just been left to die. Screw em.

Took the kids to see the Gruffalo at the Theatre Royal Glasgow on Saturday morning and it was fantastic.  My two boys loved it and so did I. The music was fantastic, the acting was great and the artistic licence used to extend the story to just over an hour was top notch. We laughed, we felt the anticipation, the abstract nature of the depiction of the characters and the use of the storyteller to provide laughs was utter genius. Well done and congratulations.

G G G G G Gruffalo......

How good to see that we as a nation have developed empathy with our fellow human beings from all over the world. Let have a look at the stats:

33 Miners trapped in Chile - UK reaction is oh what a shame, poor things.

2.5 Million People affected by Pakistan Floods - UK reaction, let’s give pound to charity.

Famine and floods in Niger - UK reaction, nothing, it’s not in the news enough to warrant one.

1 Cat unharmed after 15 hours in a bin -  “Nick Clegg outraged at cat in bin woman”, “Is Mary Bale the most evil woman in Britain?” the independent (Beverley Allitt, Rose West, Vanessa George, do those names ring a bell?), Bale is a national hate figure receiving death threats, 24hr police protection, and a safe house.

Are we really that morally skewed as a nation that we will show so much outrage to one woman’s stupidity, which I hasten to add didn’t seem to harm the cat (maybe I’m wrong), but we won’t bother to get off our backsides to help people that are really in need. Or is it just that the press have overhyped yet another story to squeeze as much emotion out of idiot Britain as it can yet again.

Is it just my imagination or have advertisers suddenly forgot what they are supposed to be doing, selling the product? Let’s take webuyanycar.com, "where’s Dave?", "oh, he’s selling his car for the third weekend." Well maybe one of you "friends" should tell him that he only needs to be with the car when someone is coming to see it. If this muppet gives up his whole life so that he can stand outside and look at the car he seems to be selling by blu-tacking a “for sale” in the window then he deserves to keep the thing. Maybe he should give in and go indoors where the camera has a nice warm filter on it rather than the cold blue on they used outdoors. We’re not idiots we can see through the smiling faces of every happy camper that sings the annoying theme tune while he grumpily stands outside dressed like an extra from beauty and the geek. Let the singers get a quote for a car from webuyanycar.com and see the smile slide from their faces.

And that ‘s just one of many:

GoCompare - or as it should be known, try TescoCompare, they don’t have shit adverts.

Confused.com - are those employees you are now trying to scare us with, bloody hell.

CarSpotter - "do you know what your cars worth?", "no idea!", rubbish, the guy looks like the slimy sod who not only knows exactly what the cars worth but also what faults to hide when he sells it privately.

National Accident Helpline - "have you been injured at work...", or as it should truthfully say, "are you a clumsy ham fisted oaf? Yes then claim free cash here!".

Halifax - can’t even start on this. If this was a real radio station you would welcome a shotgun. Although I have to admit I do find a couple of the women quite cute.

Glade - why the hell would someone mistake a moulded plastic lump for a stone from abroad when it clearly has a hole to let the air freshener out? Muppets abound, plus do they think that joke is funny.

BT - What happens next? Hmmm, let me think she is lying in bed stroking her stomach, no man around and the kids are watching BT Vision freezing every 10 seconds, while waiting on downloads to finsh because they aren’t on a fibre exchange yet, so they only have 2 meg broadband. This is what forums and chat-rooms were made for, and boy have they been busy. BT may have shot themselves in the foot with this one.

Now there is argument that this is talking about the products, and therefore mission accomplished, but these adverts are playing to the lowest denominator, treat everyone as an idiot. I for one see these adverts and immediately think "won’t be getting that then". There are some cracking adverts though, and when they do hit the spot by god they are effective.

Local councils across the country are considering plans to tax motorists up to £250 a year to park at work, in a desperate attempt to raise funds.

According to the Daily Telegraph* today Nottingham City Council will be the first to impose a £250 annual levy on local workplaces with 11 or more parking spaces in 2012, and plan to hike the tax to £250 by 2014. It will be up to the individual employer as to whether they pass this levy onto to employees.

Other councils also considering introducing a workplace parking levy include Bristol, York, Leeds, Devon, South Somerset, Bournemouth, Wiltshire and Hampshire, while authorities in Milton Keynes, Cambridge and Oxford have also previously shown an interest. In London meanwhile a number of councils will attend a seminar next month to discuss the proposal.

The tax, which was originally intended to tackle congestion and cut carbon emissions, is now being considered as a way to plug a hole in local council funding and improve public transport.

Is a tax on motorists who drive to work a fair way to fund local council spending? What about the people who live in remote areas and have no choice but to drive to work?

With car insurance and petrol costs at record highs, is this tax not a step too far in the war on motorists? What do I pay my road tax for? Its certainly not used to improve the roads.

Isnt it enough that Labour mishandled the economy, councils are paying off workers and the labour council here want to remove the freeze on council tax? Money grabbing "^&^^&£R%&£R$s...

To celebrate being the official treat provider to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, Cadbury has created Spots v Stripes – the biggest, longest, most fun game ever - and it's in George Square, Glasgow on Saturday 21^st and Sunday 22^nd August.

Remember a time when all you did was Play Games?  British Bulldog, Keepy Uppy, Hop Scotch, Marbles, Hide & Seek…When the only structure to your day was Lunchtime to Teatime? And games only stopped when your mum called you for your tea? Spots v Stripes will take you back to that time.

Spots v Stripes is a game that anybody can play, at any time, with anyone. Cadbury will be inviting the nation to divide into two teams – the Spots and the Stripes, and to participate all you need to do is join one of the teams, sign up on the website (from 2 August) and begin playing games! Any game will count – from kiss chase to eye spy, arm wrestling to shoe golf; as long as you can score a point, you can play! 

Come and play crazy games like Slide Dunk, Eyeball and Balls for Brains... Double Olympic Gold medalist Rebecca Adlington enjoyed it! 

www.spotsvstripes.com

Ive just been watching an old episode of the Secret Millionaire and as im pretty successful myself, i thought i should give something back to my fellow Glaswegians. So since Ive been reading this blog for some time, though this is the first time ive posted, im going to enter a weekly post with some top tips that i use to save money, make money, make your money go further and i will also give some advice on other things i have learned throughout my varied career etc etc....... One of the first things i learned on my way to a bit of wealth was take control of your money and watch EVERY penny...... what is the saying "take care of the pennies and the pounds will take care of themselves"....

Anyway, tip 1:

Save 40% of your income immediately on receipt of your wage. And when the money is in your savings account... DONT TOUCH IT...

Sounds simple right, but the art of this tip is in the dont touch it bit. The money you have left is the money you live on. If you cant afford to buy or do something, dont buy or do it and whatever you do, dont dip into your savings to get it. Start another savings account and put away a small amount from the remaining 60% of your remaining money.  This will build and enable you to buy what it is you need, without reducing your savings pile. Also, if the item is something like a fashion item, say an iPhone, once you have saved the cash, the item will have reduced in price and therefore you have made an additional saving.

Good luck

There is a wonderful organisation called Glasgow Freegive Group ( http://www.freegive.co.uk/p/glasgow.htm ). Glasgow freegive group connects people who are giving and getting unwanted items for free in their own towns. It's all about resue and keeping good stuff out of landfills, and at the same time, helping someone in your community by gifting them the items you no longer need. It's completely free to join.

Go to Glasgow Freegive Group Website at http://www.freegive.co.uk/p/glasgow.htm

Freegive group is active in all Scotland towns. Find a group near you at http://www.freegive.co.uk/sco.htm

This is a great ideal! Encouraging people to reuse and recycle things by giving them away and not sending to the garbage bin.

Hi. The story is that the owner has not paid any bills and owes serious cash. Therefor no one will trade with them. To confirm this I visited their store and tried to purchase decking and fencing in the middle of summer peak decking season. To be told by Chris the manager. " I don't know what we are getting in on the next delivery IF anything. Like all good companies going to the wall they still took my money and have still failed to deliver all my materials after 3 weeks. Getting a look at their warehouse confirms all. The have nothing in stock. The shelves are depleted and only have the hard to sell stuff left. When asking about the situation all you get is strange looks and raised eyebrows and nothing but more uncertainty. I purchase regularly here but am now apprehensive about parting with any more cash. Can anyone for certain explain the situation please?

Just watched that programme Sherlock and loved it. Which is most surprising. Im a fan of Sherlock Holmes stories and although Basil Rathbone was fantastic, he didnt have that nasty streak that is there in the stories. Its never blatant but the madness and calculated recklessness are there and this aspect was very well portrayed in Sherlock tonight. Granted, Watson is, thus far, poorly portarayed, but Sherlock is spot on.

The game is afoot....